Just One Night
by Taste of the Forbidden Contest
Summary: Edward desperately wants his wife's younger sister, Bella, and she wants him too. Neither want to cheat and tear their family apart, but their desire is overwhelming. They decide to have just one night together to get the lust out of their systems. But will it be enough?


**Taste of the Forbidden Contest**

**Title: Just One Night**

**Rating: M**

**Genre: Romance and Drama**

**Word Count: 10,238**

**Pairing: Edward and Bella**

**Summary:** Edward desperately wants his wife's younger sister, Bella, and she wants him too. Neither want to cheat and tear their family apart, but their desire is overwhelming. They decide to have just one night together to get the lust out of their systems. But will it be enough?

**Disclaimer:** The Twilight series and its original characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I'm just borrowing them for a while, making them British and making them do naughty things! This plot belongs to me, British-isms and all.

-j.o.n.-

"Excuse me?"

Edward Cullen looked up from the sales desk to see a stunning brunette in her late 20s standing in front of him. His groin tightened as he took in her huge, dark brown eyes, long, dark chestnut brown wavy tresses, creamy skin, full and pert bouncy rack, tiny waist and endlessly long legs. She was perfection wrapped in a simple, chic navy blue sundress printed with a fashionable Union Jack across the bust and Chanel sunglasses pushed into her hair.

"Err...hi." He stuttered out, before scrambling to his feet. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt such overwhelming desire. "Welcome to Green Park Music. How may I help you?" He felt his face grow hot as her deep chocolate eyes swept over his tall, broad and lean frame. He ran his hand through his floppy coppery hair nervously.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm lost. I'm trying to get to Mount Street," the brunette said in a soft, slightly breathy voice. "I was intending to use the sat nav app on my mobile phone, but the battery died." She smiled at him sheepishly and then bit her lip, and Edward's semi suddenly went full mast as waves of desire came over him.

"No problem." Edward gritted his teeth against the almost painful hardness and drew a map for her on a piece of scrap paper.

"Thank you so much!" the brunette exclaimed when he was done. "I'd have been wandering around for hours if it wasn't for you!" She suddenly leant forward and kissed him on the cheek.

Edward was assaulted by her scent. Strawberries, freesia, sun-cream, and some other magic. He'd never smelled anything or anyone so irresistible. He gripped the edge of the desk so hard his knuckles went white. She glanced down, and her cheeks coloured as she spotted the band of gold around his left ring finger. Her smile disappeared for a second before returning.

"You're welcome," he almost whispered as she moved away.

She grinned at him before walking towards the door, swaying her hips as she went. When she was finally gone, Edward groaned out loud and hurried to take care of his pressing problem.

Five hours and two self-induced orgasms in the staff toilets later, Edward sent his employees home and shut his musical instruments shop for the day. He had, until just over a year ago, worked in advertising and marketing, but the shop had been a dream of his since his teenage years. Following the death of his multi-millionaire parents, Elizabeth and Edward Senior, eighteen months earlier (they had died in a boating accident in Australia) he had inherited enough money to give up the soul-stealing job he hated and open the store in the heart of the luxurious central London district of Mayfair.

Edward had hired a manager so that he could work more flexibly in order to spend time with his wife, Jessica, and their daughter, Alice, who was thirteen. However, he hadn't realised that while he was working 80 hours a week in his thankless job, Jessica had been busy too. She had a full weekly programme of volunteer work, charity events, luncheons and exercise classes, none of which she was prepared to give up to spend time with him. Alice, too was busy from 7 am when she had ballet practice before school, to 7 pm, thanks to a plethora of after-school activities including ballet, contemporary dance classes and yoga. Feeling redundant, Edward threw himself back into his new business and as a result, the store was doing far better than he originally anticipated.

An hour after closing up shop, Edward arrived at his home, a townhouse in the leafy London area of Hampstead. Alice was clearly not back, for there was no cacophony of hip-hop blaring from her bedroom.

"Jess?" he called out as he made his way through the house.

"We're in the garden!" she yelled back. Edward wondered who she meant by "we." He hoped it wasn't another one of her vapid, plastic bimbo friends from her aerobics class. They had nothing interesting to say and eyed him like a piece of meat, although Jessica never looked at him that way. Not anymore. Not for years. Jessica was sat on the patio at the outdoor table with her friend, whose back was to Edward. He could only just see the top of her brunette head.

"Hey," he said as he approached.

"Hi, honey! Bella's staying for dinner. I hope you don't mind!"

"Of course not, dear."

He had forgotten until that moment that Jessica had been meeting her younger half-sister for lunch today. Isabella was the daughter of Jessica's mother, Renee, and her second husband, Charlie, and was six years Jessica's junior. When Isabella, or Bella as she had preferred to be called, was three, Renee left her second marriage like she had left her first, and moved to California, where she still lived, having married her third husband, the much younger Phil, when Jessica was 15 and Bella was nine. Charlie had moved back to his hometown of Manchester from London after his divorce from Renee, taking Bella with him, so she and Jessica had not grown up close.

Edward vaguely remembered a scrawny, awkward, dark-haired teenage girl with braces from his wedding but had been so nervous about marrying his college sweetheart and his impending fatherhood at the age of 22 that he had gotten blindingly drunk, and most of the day was a blur. A year or two later, Bella left for university in California at Berkeley, sponsored by Renee and Phil. She lived there until two months ago when the large software company she worked for in Silicon Valley as a financial analyst transferred her to London.

Over the years, Jessica had kept in touch with Bella through phone calls, emails and more recently, Skype, and when Alice was five, she had taken her out to California to meet her aunt. Edward had been working on a big ad campaign at that time and hadn't been able to go.

"Hello, Edward," a soft, hauntingly familiar voice murmured. Edward whipped round to see that the voice's owner was indeed the brunette who had possessed his mind since lunchtime.

"Hi...err...Bella." She stood up and wrapped herself around him in a hug. Edward suddenly felt like he was on fire. He was surrounded by her warmth, her luscious smell, the feel of her skin.

"It's so great to see you again, although you probably don't remember me," Bella said, a slight smirk on her face, clearly referring to their earlier encounter.

"Err, of course I do," he replied. His green eyes met her brown ones, and for a split second he was held there, frozen in her gaze.

"Edward, we've had the best day catching up! We went for lunch at Scott's, and then shopping at Liberty and Selfridges, and then I insisted Bella come back to meet you and Alice and stay for dinner." Jess chattered away excitedly, oblivious to the tension between her husband and younger sister. That wasn't unusual for her.

Jessica Stanley-Cullen was rather self-centred, having grown up the only child of a businessman who doted on her and indulged her every whim by way of compensation for the departure of her mother. She was quite pretty but had become vain under the influence of her superficial friends, and was now near-obsessed with her own beauty. Her light brown-coloured fine hair, inherited from Renee, was expensively highlighted blonde. She eschewed her natural English Rose complexion in favour of regular trips to the tanning salon. She hadn't told Edward, but she'd been having Botox and Collagen injections for years. She spent her time volunteering and doing charity events but only in order to improve her standing amongst her social circle.

"Wonderful. What are we having?"

"Oh, I just had my nails done, so I'm not cooking tonight. We're ordering Thai food."

Edward groaned internally. Jessica rarely cooked anything from scratch, and Edward hated the stream of microwave meals and take-away food she provided. He was able to cook and did so competently when he was home and had time, but this was the exception rather than the rule.

"Great," he replied in an off-handed way. Jessica did not notice, but Bella did.

-j.o.n.-

Edward may not have remembered much about his wedding day, but Bella Swan did. She had not met her older half-sister's fiancé before, so it wasn't until she was sat in the church that she laid eyes on him, the most mesmerizingly handsome man she had ever seen in her sixteen-year-old life. He had been nervous, shifting his weight from one foot to another, pulling at the neck of his shirt, running his hand through his unusual, unruly penny-coloured hair. Bella had never really felt a strong sexual attraction before, and it had taken her completely by surprise. As she checked out his lean, broad-shouldered, 6'2" body, her breath quickened, her nipples tightened and moisture pooled between her legs. She had wanted him, her sister's soon-to-be husband, and badly.

She had cried when the minister pronounced Jessica and Edward married, pretending to be happy for her sister, but really, they were tears of misery and confusion. When Alice was born five months later, Bella had deliberately chosen a time to visit when she knew Edward would be at work. Not long after that, Bella accepted her mother's offer to pay for university in California.

UC Berkeley was good for Bella. She thrived in the environment. She paid more attention to her appearance and learnt to play up her assets without going over the top. She ditched her ugly braces. She took up yoga and swimming, and her skinny body became toned and smooth. She was never shy of male attention and developed more confidence as her sexual experience grew. However, no guy she met had ever turned her on the way her sister's husband had.

When she was offered the transfer to London by her employers, she thought of Edward first before accepting it. She wanted to see if he still affected her, and the vixen in her wanted to see if she could affect him. Thanks to Google, Facebook and Jessica's chatter, Bella knew where Edward's shop was and decided to pop by on her way to meet Jessica for lunch for the first time since moving to the big city. She knew Jessica was coming from a manicure appointment, so there was no chance of running into her.

Edward clearly didn't remember her, but she was delighted when he fell over himself to help her. She saw him check out her figure, and a thrill went through her when she looked into his green eyes and saw them full of desire and want. For her. Just the sight of him, even after all those years, made her a quivering mess. She maintained her cool, calm, slightly flirtatious façade until she was out of the door, unnecessary directions in hand, but once she was round the corner she collapsed on a bench, hyperventilating.

_Damn. _She had thought. _He's even more delicious than I remember. But he's my sister's husband. What the fuck am I doing? _

-j.o.n.-

Edward was in his own personal hell. Bella was on his mind virtually all the time. One sight of her dressed demurely turned him on far more than Jessica ever had, even naked. Bella was the star of all of his fantasies, and he found himself jerking off more often than he had as a horny teenager. He imagined the feel of her soft pink lips against his, on his jaw, at his ear. He imagined her delicate hands running up his chest, round his neck and tugging at his hair. Just that was enough to get him off, but if he imagined his lips on her neck, licking his way down to the ravine of her cleavage, and then pushing down the material of her clothes and bra to expose her nipples, which he imagined as hard, dark pink rosebuds, his release was explosive. He didn't dare imagine any further. He was barely handling things as it was.

Bella had invited Edward, Jessica and Alice for dinner. It had been three months since that warm summer day when she'd walked into Edward's shop, and he had seen her several times but never without Jessica. Neither of them ever said very much during their meetings, mainly because Jess hardly ever gave them the chance, but when they did, they respected each other's comments. Both Bella and Edward were sensible, astute and occasionally wry or slightly sarcastic, laughing at the same things.

Edward had resisted Bella's dinner invitation for several weeks, desperate to avoid being in the face of temptation, until Jessica put her foot down.

"Edward, I don't care about the shop or invoices or stock taking or if you've got a headache. We are going to Bella's for dinner tomorrow night." Jessica ranted. "She's always coming out to see us in Hampstead. I think she's lonely. Alice is desperate to see her apartment. She adores Bella, you know. I don't know why you don't like her..." Edward turned round sharply when Jessica said that. Jessica had clearly observed but misinterpreted his avoidance of Bella – no doubt a good thing "...but you can grin and bear dinner tomorrow night, okay?"

The next night, Edward found himself on London's South Bank, outside the chrome and glass apartment building where Bella had a penthouse apartment which looked over the River Thames. Clearly, her Californian employers paid her well. Alice was bouncing up and down with excitement as they stepped into the lift.

"Dad, Aunt Bella's so cool. She said she'd let me look at her makeup collection tonight! America has way better makeup than here! And did you know she's going to take me to Sadler's Wells to see the Cedar Lake Ballet Company next month?"

"That's great, princess," he replied distractedly, kissing her on the forehead and ruffling her short hair, which was naturally strawberry blonde, but Alice had dyed it black-blue with streaks of purple.

Bella greeted them at the door of her apartment. Edward had to suppress a groan as he took in her appearance. She had her hair swept up into a high ponytail that caressed her shoulders. She was wearing a clingy, wide-necked, fawn-coloured cashmere sweater, which exposed her sexy collarbones and the top of her décolletage, and a dark denim skirt that finished three inches above the knee. Her smooth, toned legs were bare.

"Hi! Come in!" She gave Alice a big hug, and Jess too, before stepping forward to greet Edward. "Hi, Edward, how are you? she asked breathily before leaning into him, placing a warm palm on his hard chest and brushing his jaw with a soft, wet, warm kiss. "You're looking...well," she added as she glanced up into his eyes. Her smile disappeared for a second and her gaze pierced him through to his soul before she moved away, appropriately but far too soon for his liking. _Fuck. Hard again. _

Bella had outdone herself when it came to the food. She had prepared a Mexican feast of homemade pico de gallo, guacamole, tortilla chips, quesadillas, spicy shrimps, a chicken mole poblano, rice, salads and refried beans followed by a spectacular flan served with caramelised pineapple. Edward and Alice had eaten like gluttons, hugely appreciative of the non-fancy but very tasty meal. Jessica was more reserved as she was conscious of her weight and didn't want to get too messy.

"Wow, thank you so much, Aunt Bella! That was sooo good!" Alice said.

"Thank you, sweetie! I'm glad you all finally made it over. It's nice to have people to cook for."

"You like cooking?" Jessica asked slightly incredulously. She hated doing it. She only bothered for dinner parties, and even then, that was rare.

"I love it. It's my creative outlet I guess. But I don't have anyone to do it for, apart from you guys, of course," Bella responded enthusiastically.

"No boyfriend?" Jess asked, trying to get some gossip out of her reserved sister. Bella's cheeks instantly stained crimson. She was quite a private person. Edward leaned forward, trying to suppress the jealousy he felt when he thought about Bella getting involved with a man.

"No. I've had a few dates, and there's a man I really like, but he's not available." Bella replied, desperately trying not to look at Edward.

"Oh, what a shame! Still, you're only 29. Not all of us can meet our man at university," Jess replied, placing a hand on Edward's arm.

Bella's eyes fell on her sister's hand, and guilt flooded her.

Edward was keen to move the topic of conversation away from Bella's love life. He hated the fact that he desperately hoped the man she wanted was him.

"Oh! I have a super brilliant idea!" Alice exclaimed suddenly. "Mum, Dad, why doesn't Aunt Bella come with us to the cottage for Christmas?" Before anyone could say anything else, she continued. "Aunt Bella, we're going to Great Uncle Carlisle and Great Aunt Esme's cottage in the Lake District this year for Christmas and New Year. You should come too! You'll love them, and you could cook to your heart's content. The cottage has, like, the best kitchen ever!"

"That's a great idea, Alice, but I'm sure Aunt Bella has plans..." Edward hastily began, worrying how he was going to cope spending a whole ten days in the same place as Bella without going insane with lust.

"Actually, I don't. My father and stepmother, Sue, are going to be on a cruise, which they booked before my transfer to London, whilst Mum and Phil are going on some vegan art therapy detox thing."

"Then you should definitely come, Bella!" Jessica shared Alice's enthusiasm, seemingly oblivious to her husband's reticence.

"Brilliant. Thank you! It'll be nice to have a wintery, cosy Christmas," Bella replied. "Now, Alice, I do believe I promised you a play with my makeup collection."

"Ooh, I'd love to have a look too!" Jessica exclaimed. She was desperate to know how her younger sister achieved her natural-looking complexion.

"Of course. If you head down to my dressing room, second door on the left, I've set it all up in there. I'll finish the washing up and join you in a few minutes."

"Great. Edward will help you, won't you, honey?" Jessica replied as she and Alice got up to head to the

"Of course," Edward said, hating the patronising way his wife had volunteered him.

"There's not actually much to do. Most of it can go into the dishwasher," Bella said once they'd cleared the dining table.

"I'll help you load it up," Edward responded quietly.

They worked silently for a couple of minutes, when Edward made the mistake of glancing in the direction of Bella's chest as she was leaning down to put plates in the dishwasher rack. He gasped audibly and froze as he got a clear look down her sweater, to see the tops of the high, rounded globes, pushed up further by two wisps of chocolate coloured lace. The hard-on in his jeans suddenly became acutely painful. _How am I going to cope with ten fucking days of this at Christmas?_

"Edward." Bella's sweet voice broke him from his troubled thoughts. "Edward?"

"Umm...yeah?" He stood up straight suddenly, and now it was Bella's turn to gasp as her eyes were directly in line with his groin. She was close enough to see the outline of his rock hard member in his jeans. _He wants me too. _She composed herself a fraction faster than he did and shut the dishwasher as she stood up.

"Um, are you okay?" As they made eye contact, the air grew thick with their mutual attraction, tension and fear at the intensity of it all.

"Umm..." Edward couldn't help but take a step closer to her and Bella couldn't help but copy him. There were mere inches between them. He could feel the warmth radiating from her body. She could hear his rapid, shallow breathing. It would be so easy to just step forward and...

"Edward, you feel it too," she whispered, her big chocolate eyes wide with longing. "This thing..." she gestured between them "...this connection."

"Yes," he whispered back. "Ever since that first day in my shop. But Bella, we can't do this."

"I know. But it's torture," she replied. "I want you so badly."

"Torture's right. I dream about you. I fantasize..." He placed one large hand on her hip. Her eyes fluttered closed for a moment at the feel of his of his fingers against her.

"Me too. But she's my sister."

Despite her words, Bella was unable to stop herself stepping closer to him so her breasts brushed against his chest. Edward shuddered with desire and his other hand found her other hip. She sighed as he brought his forehead to touch hers.

"She's my wife," he whispered back.

They were milliseconds away from a desperate meeting of their mouths. Bella could smell the after dinner coffee and mint on Edward's breath. Edward could hear Bella's heart threatening to pound out of her chest.

"Oh, Mum! Isn't it such a great colour!" Alice squealed distantly.

Edward and Bella pulled away, aghast at how close they came to giving into their illicit passion.

"Shit," Bella whispered, turning away from him and walking over the fridge to fetch a bottle of Evian.

Edward leant against the kitchen counter, shocked at what nearly happened. Even though he and Jessica didn't have that much in common anymore, she had refused to have any more children after Alice – Edward had always wanted a large family – and they hadn't had any sexual contact beyond kissing in years. He did love her, chatterbox tendencies, vanity and all. He had never even contemplated cheating on her, even though he'd had plenty of opportunities over the years whilst working in advertising. Yet now, he burned for his wife's sister and had almost kissed her whilst his wife and daughter were just a couple of rooms away.

"We need to talk about how we're going to handle this, Edward," Bella said quietly, passing him a glass of water and pouring one for herself. "But obviously, not now and not here."

"When?"

"I'll come by the shop at closing time tomorrow. We'll go somewhere and talk, okay?" Edward agreed, scared beyond belief.

-j.o.n.-

Edward had sent his employees home early in preparation for Bella's arrival. She arrived at 6 pm on the dot. Her hair was windswept from the bitter November wind and she was self-conscious of it, but Edward thought she had never looked more beautiful.

They agreed that they needed to go somewhere public, so that they wouldn't be tempted, but somewhere quiet, so they ended up in a corner of the bar in Brown's Hotel.

"Bella, yesterday shouldn't have happened," Edward began.

"It shouldn't, but it did. And if we hadn't been interrupted, it would have gone further, wouldn't it?"

"Yes." He hung his head. Bella tilted his chin back up with a finger.

"I don't want to be in this position either, but I can't deny how I feel about you."

"So what do we do?" he asked, before dropping his voice to a whisper. "Just being in the same room as you for five minutes affects me." His eyes glanced down to his groin, already awake to Bella's presence. Bella followed his eyes.

"I know exactly what you mean," Bella replied, squirming slightly in her seat thanks to the flood of arousal in her panties. Edward's eyes grew large as he realised what her movement meant.

They sat in silence for a while, sipping their Grey Goose Martinis. Edward thought about the resistance it would take to never give into his lust; it would require Herculean control on his part. Bella thought of how good it would feel to be in his arms, to feel him undress her, to taste him and to have him enter her, fuck her, ride her; the thought that she might never get to experience him was acutely painful.

"We need to get each other out of our systems," Bella realised suddenly.

"Sorry?"

"One night. We have just one night. We do everything we want to with each other and to each other. Then we can get on with our lives."

"What if one night isn't enough?"

"It will be. Don't you see? What we're feeling is just sexual. We aren't in love or any of that shit, Edward. We're in lust. We just need to get it out of our systems. I've spent far too long pining, longing and wondering about you, and vice versa. Just one night. Then you can go back to Jessica and Alice, and I can get back to my work and my life without constantly being distracted by thoughts of you."

"I don't know…" Edward replied uncertainly.

"Think of it as damage control. We could spend the next several years dancing around each other, trying and failing to avoid each other, having near misses like the other night, never moving forward, each time leaving ourselves vulnerable to someone realising our mutual attraction and getting hurt over it. Or we do this and move past it."

Edward sighed. Bella's idea was either extremely sensible or extremely foolish. Before he could answer, Bella stood up.

"You need time to think about it," she stated. "Contact me when you do."

She downed the rest of her martini and pulled out a pen from her purse. On the back of a cocktail napkin she wrote down her personal email and mobile phone number. Then she leant down, brushed his cheek with her lips and walked away, leaving him bristling with need.

It took him about ten seconds after she was gone to whip out his phone to text her.

"_Yes. Heaven help me, but yes."_

-j.o.n.-

Engineering a night alone was not easy, but they eventually came up with a plan and set a date for their "Just One Night" – Friday, 23rd December.

Edward arranged it so that Jessica would drive with Alice to his aunt and uncle's cottage in the Lake District on that Friday morning, knowing that his wife and daughter would like to have time to peruse the German Christmas Market in Birmingham on the way up north. He told them that he had to work on the Saturday, Christmas Eve, and would come up to the Lakes that evening.

Bella had told Jessica that she had to work on Christmas Eve as well and couldn't get out of it, so she would get the train up to Kendal, the nearest town to the Cullen cottage, when she finished. Jessica was the one that suggested that Edward and Bella travel up together on the Saturday evening and further insisted that Edward hire a car service to drive them up. She didn't like the idea of her family taking the train with the hoi polloi when Edward – and Bella too for that matter – had enough money to pay for a limo and travel in style and comfort.

At 6.30 pm on that Friday, Edward made his way to Bella's apartment. He was really fucking nervous. Even when he was riding up in the lift, Edward was worrying, wondering whether he should turn back. Bella felt the same way. She was about to spend the night sleeping with her sister's husband, something that had been her idea and which she had planned. She felt like a complete tramp, but at the same time, she knew that they needed to do this or else they'd never move on. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Hi, Bella." Edward had come straight from the shop so was dressed in a black suit, grey shirt and black tie with the emerald-coloured logo of Green Park Music embroidered on it. He carried with him an overnight bag with a change of clothes and essential things like toiletries, phone charger and iPad. Jessica had taken the rest of his luggage with her in the car.

"Hey. Come in." Bella was still in her work clothes too, wearing a fitted dark blue shift dress with a fashionable peplum and navy high heeled pumps that made her long legs look even longer. Edward ran his gaze over her as he followed her inside. His hands began to shake. Bella noticed.

"Sorry, I…"

"Shh. It's okay. I'm nervous too."

She took the overnight bag from his hand and dropped it on the hallway floor before entwining her fingers with his. Her warm touch was enough to break his anxiety attack and bring forth his undeniable attraction to her.

"I need you," he whispered.

"You have me," she whispered back.

Edward swallowed hard as he lifted his head to meet her deep, dark chocolate brown eyes and brought his face closer to hers. Their foreheads met first, and they stayed still for a moment. He let go of her hands and placed them on her hips before running them up to her narrow waist and back down again. Bella inched herself closer still and placed a palm on his chest. She brought her other hand around his neck and inched her fingers up into the soft locks of hair at his nape, caressing his scalp and tugging the hair gently.

Edward inhaled sharply at the sensation. He loved having his hair played with. Bella's strawberry and freesia scent came over him, and he was utterly lost. He moved his mouth closer to hers and she rose up even further on her tiptoes, desperate for their long-awaited kiss.

When his lips finally met hers, they both felt a rush as some mind-blowing sensation burst through them. Bella parted her mouth to welcome his tongue and he swept it along hers. They continued for several minutes, alternating sweet, soft, short kisses, with deeper, yearning, longer ones. Edward could think of nothing but the incredible woman in his arms. He wanted nothing else in the world but her. All of her.

Bella's reaction to their kisses was similar. They were thrilling yet calming, left her hot and cold, prickling with sensation yet soothing to her soul. She needed more. She needed everything he could give her.

Edward was getting very worked up. His cock was straining against his trousers and pressing against Bella's lower abdomen. Bella slowly stroked her palm down from his chest, over his belt and gently over his groin.

"Holy fuck!" he exclaimed, moving away from her mouth momentarily. Bella looked into his verdant green eyes and repeated the movement. He gasped again, and she grinned.

"Bedroom?"

Edward nodded dumbly. Bella pushed his jacket off his shoulders and let it fall before leading him down the hallway. When they got there, Edward sat himself on the edge of the bed and opened his arms to her. Bella walked into them, and he closed his arms around her slender waist.

"You're so beautiful."

"So are you," Bella replied before leaning down to cup his face with her hands and kiss him.

Edward moved his hands from her waist and down over the curves of her pert ass and then squeezed lightly. Bella moaned and freed her hands from around his face in order to hitch her tight dress up before sinking down on his lap.

"Oof," Edward murmured as she landed right on top of his rock hard cock. Bella wiggled so that his member made contact with her clit. "Fuuuck…" he exclaimed. "Angel, if you keep doing that…"

"But it feels so good!" she exclaimed. "As does you calling me 'Angel.'" she added quietly, trying to suppress the urge to ask whether he called Jessica that too.

"Only you, Bella Angel, are my angel," he whispered, answering the question she'd left unasked.

Desire coursed through Bella anew, and she attacked his mouth once again with a squeal whilst wrapping her arms around his neck and tugging at his hair again. Edward reached up and pulled out the clip that had held Bella's hair up in a chic twist so that her long, shiny, chestnut brown locks tumbled about her shoulders. He twirled some strands around his fingers and brought them first to his nose to inhale their sweet strawberry smell, and then to his lips where he kissed them softly before letting them loose.

"Oh my God, Edward…"

Bella was spellbound by his small action. Her heart lurched in her chest and she buried her face in his neck. She realised then that she had lied to both herself and to Edward. She wasn't in lust. It wasn't just sex. She was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with her sister's husband.

Edward held Bella against him for a while, cherishing the feel of her before gently nudging her away from him in order to look into her pretty face.

"Are you okay?" She nodded. "Do you want to…stop?" She shook her head before softly caressing his lips with hers.

"Definitely not," Bella replied, smiling slightly.

Edward placed his hand on the top of her back, found the zip of her dress and eased it down as far as it would go. Bella reciprocated by pulling out his tie. She then pulled out his shirttails and slowly unbuttoned his shirt.

Bella closed her lips over Edward's chin, and then licked and sucked down his neck. He tasted like honey and cinnamon and other sweet spices. Absolutely delicious. Edward lay down and Bella moved with him, pushing her head forward so her hair cascaded over his skin while she flicked her tongue over his nipples in turn and rubbed her delicate hands over his ripped abdomen.

Edward suddenly flipped them over so he was on top, desperate to see what was hiding under her dress. He undid his belt and pushed off his trousers, socks and shoes, leaving him in just a tight pair of black boxer briefs.

"My turn, angel."

Whatever Edward had imagined did not do Bella justice. As he peeled away the navy garment from her lithe body, he nearly came on the spot as he took in the dark blue lacy bra adorned with tiny polka dots and matching thong underwear. Her breasts jutted upwards, her nipples clearly visible, straining to meet him through the fabric. His eyes swept over the expanse of smooth, flat, creamy midriff and the inviting juncture of her thighs with her hot centre.

Edward began his exploration of Bella by licking her collarbone and then moved up to her ear, along her jaw and down her neck before repeating his action. Bella lay back and enjoyed the wet and slightly rough feel of the flat of his tongue against her skin, occasionally sighing and moaning with pleasure. Edward reached the edge of her bra with his tongue and cupped her breasts gently. Bella sat up a little then and watched him intensely as he squeezed her tits and rubbed his nose in the ravine of her cleavage.

"Take it off, baby," Bella demanded, trying out the endearment for the first time.

"Baby?"

"Um, yeah...is that okay?"

Edward answered by bringing his mouth to hers and giving her a deep, searching kiss. His arms encircled her and found the clasp of her bra, which he promptly opened. Still attached to his mouth, Bella shrugged it off and gasped as Edward squeezed one of her soft breasts. He lay her down once again and took a moment to just look. She looked like a goddess, dark hair spilling around her head, brown eyes full of arousal, creamy skin slightly flushed and high, full tits jutting upwards, each topped with, as Edward had imagined, a perfect, hard, dark pink nipple.

"Very okay, angel!" he replied before closing his mouth over one of those nipples.

"Fuck!" Bella cried, unprepared for the sensation. She was dripping with desire and writhed around under him. "Edward...so good!"

Edward continued lavishing her breasts with attention from his hands and mouth before moving his lips down over her tummy and licking her navel. He moved lower and lower until his mouth was at the top of her pubic mound. He glanced up. Bella had her head thrown back in pleasure.

"Don't stop, baby."

"Angel, I'm going to lick and finger your clit and your pussy now. I want to hear you come."

"Do it, Edward, please!"

Edward slowly rolled down her dark blue thong to reveal her glistening pussy and throbbing clitoris, topped with a trimmed patch of short, dark, silky curls. He was hit with the smell of her want for him and his mouth watered. He brought his thumb to her slit and rubbed it up and down. He then slowly pushed a finger inside and found her pussy. Edward pumped in and out a few times, adding a second finger, and she was overwhelmed by the sheer bliss of his touch. Whilst still fingering her, he brought his lips to her clit for the first time. Bella's back arched off the bed as white-hot sparks pricked behind her eyes. Edward flicked her clit over and over again.

"Oh...oh...Edward! Baby..." Edward smiled against her but continued, desperate to hear and feel her come around his fingers. "Please, please...aah...fuck...Edward...Baby...OH...OHHHH!"

Bella came hard, harder than she had ever come before, her face hot, her thighs wet from the flood of juices pouring from her.

"That might just be the sexiest thing I've ever experienced." Edward was in absolute awe. Bella tasted like the sweetest nectar, and he was a just little proud of himself at his oral skills.

Bella beckoned him with one finger and he crawled on top of her. He attempted to wipe his mouth but she stopped him, wanting to taste his mouth mingled with her juices.

"Really? I think we're only just getting started!" she exclaimed when they broke apart. "Just imagine how good it will feel when you're buried up to the hilt inside my pussy."

Edward couldn't find any words. He needed to feel her – immediately. He scooted them higher off the bed and whipped off his boxer briefs. Bella reached down and palmed him a couple of times before wrapping her slender fingers around his huge member. He jerked and started, and his eyes almost popped out of his head. He was closer to his release than he realised.

Bella, correctly reading the expression on his face, let go of his cock immediately.

"I'm going to have fun with him later, but right now…"

Edward didn't hesitate to line himself up, but just before he did he had a thought.

"Condom?"

"Pill, baby. I've been on it for years, and I swear I'm clean. I was tested a year ago and haven't had sex since."

"Thank God." He did not want to stop now to fumble with some latex.

With no further delay, Edward pressed forward and slid inside her tight, hot canal, right up to the hilt, and hovered over her as he slowly thrust in and pulled out. Bella, who had never been with a man as well-endowed as Edward, cried out in ecstasy at the stretch as he filled her so completely and as the ridge of his cock hit the sweet spot inside her, over and over again.

"Keep doing that, baby. Oh…Edward…amazing…right there."

"Fuck, Bella, I'm really close…" He worried that he was going to come before her, that she would miss out on another orgasm.

"Oh…I'm closer…keep going…" Bella wrapped her legs around his waist to take him deeper still. "Baby…oh…baby…OH…OHHH!"

Edward felt her walls clamp down around him as she came again, and the added sensation brought forth his own release.

"Bella, my angel…FUCK! FUUCK!"

He collapsed on top of her as his seed spilled inside her. She still had her legs around him and also placed her arms around his neck to feel all of him against all of her. When he got his breath back, Edward rolled them onto their sides.

A single tear rolled down Bella's cheek. She wiped it away hastily.

"Bella?"

"It's nothing, baby. It's just overwhelming, how fucking amazing that was."

Edward rested his head against her shoulder and kissed it. She responded by tugging at his hair. They lay there for a while, clinging to each other, until they felt strong enough to separate. Bella quickly cleaned up in the bathroom and came out a couple of minutes later dressed in a large towelling robe and carrying her spare one for Edward.

He pouted at her covered-up form and she laughed.

"If we were in California, the robe would not be necessary but it's fucking freezing, baby."

"So, eleven years in California got rid of your resistance to the British weather?"

"Totally!" She held her hands out to him. He took them and let her pull him up off the bed. "I don't know about you, but I am starving!"

"Oh yeah! Me too!" He put the robe on and kissed her quickly. "Plus, we'll need energy for round two!"

Bella beamed at him and led him to the kitchen.

An hour later, they were lying in each other's arms on Bella's plush, cream leather sofa, kissing, talking and ignoring the TV.

"You know, I've never had such melt-in-the-mouth lamb before, angel. Where did you learn to cook so well?" Edward asked. Bella's Moroccan lamb, chickpea and apricot stew was one of the best meals things he'd ever tasted. "I'm sure it's not from Renee."

Bella laughed. Her mother was well known to be a diabolical cook.

"Hell no! She burns water! I learnt a few things from my Grandma Marie, my dad's mum, when I was little. We lived with her for a few years after Renee left. But really, it was my stepmother Sue – she and my dad got married when I was twelve – who got me really interested. She runs a deli and a café."

"In Manchester?"

"Yeah. It's pretty well known up there," Bella replied proudly.

"You seem close to her."

"Very. She's very maternal and nurturing. I love Renee, but we've always been more like friends than mother and daughter."

Edward nodded. Jessica had said the exact same thing about Renee. Suddenly that thought brought home the fact that his lover was his sister-in-law. Guilt flooded him and he turned away from her.

"Edward? Baby?" He forced himself to look back at Bella. "Hey, where did you go?"

"Sorry, I…" He swallowed hard.

"I get it," Bella replied quietly and sat up. "I just reminded you of Jessica, didn't I?"

"Yeah." He hung his head. "Sorry, angel."

"It's inevitable, baby. But we've given ourselves this one night. Please let us enjoy it, because it's all we're getting." Bella carded her fingers back into his hair and kissed the side of his neck in order to soothe him. She felt the guilt as much as he, but she was resolved to stick to her plan of getting all their lust out of the way.

"You're right." Edward sighed. "I should be making the most of this. I am still worrying about afterwards, though. Christmas and beyond."

"It'll be tough," Bella agreed. "We shouldn't contact each other, except for family emergencies, or else we'll give something away."

"Totally right. Although I will miss our sneaky phone calls and emails."

"Me too."

"Right. Enough chat, angel." Edward pulled Bella on top of him and passed his hands over her back before caressing her ass through the robe. Bella squeaked with delight and excitement and kissed him before moving her attention to his earlobe, which she sucked and flicked with her tongue.

"Mmm…couldn't agree more," she murmured as her kisses drifted down his neck. Her hands found the ties of the robe and pulled them apart so he was naked under her.

"It's not fair for you to be dressed when I'm not, angel!" Edward complained, desperate to see her perfect tits and dark snatch. Bella sat up and rubbed her ass against his cock, causing him to groan.

"You're right, baby." Loving the fact that his lust-filled green eyes were watching her, Bella slowly brought her hands to her own robe belt and pulled the ends apart. She then tantalisingly eased open the robe until she was fully revealed to him.

"Have I told you yet how beautiful you are, angel?" Edward asked, reaching up to cup her breasts.

"Once or twice, but it's still wonderful to hear!" Bella told him playfully, circling her hips in order to keep hitting his hard cock.

"You are, you know. I'm not just saying it. The most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Inside and out." Bella's heart threatened to leap out of her chest. She'd longed to hear those words from him for thirteen years.

"Edward…" She leaned forward to give him the sweetest, gentlest, warmest kiss. "I…" she had to stop herself from blurting out "I love you." "I think you're the most beautiful man I've ever seen." She rose back to her sitting position. "Inside and out."

Bella slid down the sofa, kissing down his chest as she went. She licked and sucked and kissed and caressed her way down his chest and his abdomen until she reached her prize. Just before she engulfed the head of his member with her hot, wet mouth, she glanced up. Edward's eyes were boring into her with thrilling anticipation. Without further ado, she gripped him at the base of his shaft and pumped him slowly before pursing her lips around the head of his cock. The sharp intake of breath from Edward spurred her on as she took him as far into her mouth as she could manage.

Edward could barely remember his own name. Lightning bolts of ecstasy shot through him as Bella sucked him, alternating the pressure she used and where in order to keep him surprised. Bella ramped things up when she decided that his balls were being neglected, and gently fondled them, rolling them around and around with her fingers.

"Holy fucking hell, angel!"

Bella smiled against his cock. She sent a silent thank you to her best friend from Berkeley, Angela, who had made her sit through an embarrassing lesson on giving amazing blow jobs one drunken evening in their dorms. She continued to suck him and pump him in and out of her mouth whilst she moved her free hand under Edward's balls and gently but deliberately stroked the very sensitive patch of skin behind them.

"Oh God, Bella!" She continued stroking, sucking, pumping and fondling, lapping up the salty drips of liquid he was already producing, until she felt him twitch and release deep into her throat. Before she swallowed, she looked him straight in the eye, wanting him to watch his cum go down her throat.

"Thank you, baby," Bella said as she crawled back up into his arms.

"You're thanking me?" Edward asked incredulously. "What for? You just gave me the best blow job in the world!"

"For being here, for going through with this whole 'Just One Night' idea," she replied, looking up at him from under her long, fluttering lashes.

"Oh, my angel..." He leant down to kiss her. "There's nowhere I'd rather be."

-j.o.n.-

Edward and Bella spent the rest of the night and most of the next morning and afternoon continuing to explore each other's bodies, losing count of the number of orgasms exchanged. When they weren't touching, cuddling, kissing, licking, sucking, fucking or making love, they cooked and ate together. They read each other their favourite poems. They compared the contents of their iPods and bantered about their favourite plays and movies. Neither wanted their "Just One Night" to end.

The car came to pick them up from Bella's apartment at 5 pm on Christmas Eve. The driver opened the door to the back of the car, and Bella climbed in first while Edward spoke to the driver.

"When you get in the front, please put the divider up." The driver nodded. "And for the love of God, unless we are in imminent danger of death, do not under any circumstances disturb us until we get to the scheduled service station stop, okay? And I'll give you £200 for your discretion and confidentiality in not mentioning anything you might happen to hear accidentally. An early Christmas bonus, if you like."

"Of course, sir," the driver replied, obliged to keep whatever secrets the attractive couple held even before he was offered the surprise Christmas bonus.

Edward entered the backseat of the car too, and once the door was shut, the divider was up and they were moving, he pulled Bella into his arms. She immediately burst into tears.

"Shh, shh, angel. I know. I don't want it to be over either."

"Reality sucks, baby," she said amongst her tears.

"I couldn't agree more."

Bella's sobs subsided after a few minutes, but their mutual melancholy persisted. They spent the journey huddled against each other, kissing and touching, counting down the moments until they would have to resume the platonic roles of brother-in-law and sister-in-law.

They finally arrived at the Cullen cottage at 11.30 pm. Bella had fallen asleep with her head in Edward's lap and he was loathed to move her, but he had to.

"Angel, we're here," he whispered. She stirred but didn't wake. "Bella. I'm sorry, my love, but Jess and Alice are going to be opening the door any second."

That woke her, and she sat up with a start.

"Fuck. Sorry, baby."

"We'd better revert back to 'Bella' and 'Edward.'" Bella nodded her assent sadly, her heart breaking at the loss of "Angel" and "Baby."

They kissed passionately one last time before Edward wiped his eyes and mouth and stepped outside to meet his family. Bella composed herself, put on her game-face and exited a minute later. She greeted her sister and niece with a hug and a kiss and politely met Edward's Aunt Esme and Uncle Carlisle before claiming exhaustion from her long day of work and travel. Once alone in her quaint and very comfortable room, she took two sleeping pills and cried herself to sleep.

Edward couldn't settle. He tossed and turned all night until he gave up and woke at 5 am. Bella had been right when she said that they would be able to resist each other better once they'd had sex. He just wished that the longing for her body had not been replaced by the realisation that he was hopelessly in love with her.

Both of them managed to go through the motions of Christmas celebrations better than expected. Esme and Bella got on very well, thanks to a mutual love of cooking, arts and culture and joined Esme in preparing the food and poring over her collection of coffee table art books and photography collections. Edward joined his uncle Carlisle and cousin Jasper in fishing, hiking and clay pigeon shooting. Jessica spent her time watching TV, shopping in Kendal and planning lunches and socials with her friends via Facebook. Alice flitted between spending time with all her family members.

Despite the distractions, Edward was not surprised when Bella feigned a work emergency to get out of staying at the cottage for New Year's Eve. He could see the strain on her face every time they were in the same room, which was, by design, not very often. Bella had become more and more worried about seeing Edward kiss Jessica as the clock struck midnight. She was starting to resent her sister for having him, and she didn't want that to show.

Over the course of January and February, Bella threw herself into her work, and only saw Jessica, Alice and Edward a couple of times. She and Edward continued their "no contact" deal, but it was hard. Bella longed to hear Edward's voice, longed to hear him call her "Angel" again. Edward was struggling too. He could no longer sleep comfortably in the same bed as Jessica because his conscious and unconscious mind were both so full of Bella that he constantly worried about saying her name in his sleep. Jessica, fed up of his restlessness, told him to sleep in the spare room. He was exceedingly grateful.

In early March, Edward was at home with Jessica and Alice one Monday evening watching TV when the doorbell rang.

"I wonder who that could be," Edward wondered out loud, starting to get up.

"Oh, it's probably Bella. She said she might call in as she had a dinner meeting tonight this side of London."

Nervous knots formed in the pits of Edward's stomach at the thought of seeing Bella.

"Ooh! I'll get it. I'll get it!" Alice exclaimed, bouncing out of her armchair. Edward sat back down.

A moment later, Bella walked into their living room. Jess stood up and hugged her little sister, whilst Edward greeted her with a light kiss to her cheek. Bella's breath caught in her throat. It took all her strength not to just throw herself into his arms.

"Can I get you a drink or anything, Aunt Bella?" Alice asked.

"No, thanks, sweetie. I'm afraid this is just a flying visit."

"Oh, what a shame. It's been ages since we saw you," Jessica said.

"I know, and I'm sorry. Work has been crazy," Bella replied. "Actually, it's the reason I've come to see you."

"Oh?" Edward replied.

Bella braced herself and kept her gaze on Jessica, not Edward.

"I'm going back to California. I've been transferred back."

"No!" Alice cried, her bottom lip trembling. "You can't! We only just got you back!"

"Oh Alice. I know, sweetie. But I've been here nine months, and it was unlikely they'd let me stay past a year," Bella told her niece, internally crossing herself at the lie. She had, in fact, asked to go back to California, as soon as possible.

"When are you leaving?" Jessica asked. Although she and Bella didn't have much in common and weren't that close, Jess had loved having her only sister nearby.

"That's the other thing. I leave at the end of the week. I'm on a Friday afternoon flight to Frisco."

"But that's so soon! Are we going to have any time to spend with you before you go?"

"Why don't I take you all out for dinner tomorrow night?" Bella ventured.

"I'm really sorry, but I can't make it for dinner tomorrow. I'm in York for a trade fair for the next three days," Edward replied, trying not to show his sorrow and heartbreak at his angel's impending departure.

"What a shame."

Bella allowed herself to look at him briefly. It was a mistake, for his expression ripped a hole through her heart, but she remained determined. She couldn't stay in London any longer. Being in the same city as Edward was agony and getting more painful.

"But we can make it, can't we, Mum? Please?" Alice begged.

"That would be great. We can give you a proper send-off," Jessica agreed.

"Brilliant. Is Japanese okay? I thought we could go to Roka?"

"Perfect!" Jess and Alice chorused. They loved Roka, in London's Fitzrovia district.

"Great. Well, Edward. I guess this is goodbye."

"Goodbye, Bella." They stood and Edward embraced her lightly, all the while desperate to feel more. "Good luck in California, and please keep in touch."

"I will."

They all walked her out and waved her goodbye.

"I don't want Aunt Bella to go back to America," Alice whined. Jess put her arms around her and hugged her. Neither noticed Edward slip away to bed in the spare room, where he spent the night wide awake, tears running like rivers from his eyes.

-cc-

On Friday morning, after three hectic days in York at the trade fair, made worse by his utter failure to sleep, a bleary-eyed Edward made his way into work. The postman, who usually arrived at lunchtime, came just as he was opening up shop and handed him a big stack of letters. Edward took them into the office and was about to open them when one of his sales assistants asked for his help.

Three hours later, after helping serve a steady stream of customers and dealing with a surprising number of phone enquiries, Edward finally made his way back to the office at the rear of the shop. After making himself some coffee, he worked through the mail until he was on the last one.

The letter was a thick white envelope and was marked "Private and Confidential, for Addressee only" in clear, hand-written block capitals. Edward opened it. A sheet of expensive notepaper fell out, along with a smaller brown envelope.

_Edward, baby,_

_By the time you get this, I'll be on the 2 pm flight back to San Francisco. Staying in London, being so near and yet so far away from you, is proving too painful, and I can't endure it any more. I requested a return to California, and it was granted. _

_I was wrong. That one night was not enough. Now I know what it feels to be in your arms, to have you inside me, what you taste like, how in tune we are, I can't hang around and watch you be with Jessica. You belong to her, and I can accept that, but I just can't witness it anymore. _

_There is just one more thing. I agonised over whether to tell you this, but found myself stuck between a rock and a hard place. If I didn't tell you, you would find out anyway and be devastated that I had kept it from you. But telling you when I'm on the point of leaving also feels cruel. _

_Please don't hate me for this, but I'm pregnant. The child is yours. It seems that, despite years of me using the contraceptive pill with no issue, one of your strong little swimmers managed to get through._

_I have decided to keep the baby. The envelope contains a picture from the ultrasound scan. I'm not asking for anything from you, and please, please don't leave Jessica for me. I couldn't do that to her or Alice. This baby will be raised in a happy, one-parent family and won't know any different, but if you leave Jess now, Alice will be affected for the rest of her life._

_Okay, it's time for me to go. _

_Edward, I will always love you. Don't doubt that, but you aren't mine. Perhaps in another life, I'll get to be the one who meets you first. _

_Your angel, Bella_

With a shaking hand, Edward opened the small brown envelope and pulled out the small photograph. It was grey and grainy but the head, hands and feet of a tiny unborn baby could quite easily be made out. _His_ tiny unborn baby.

Edward needed to leave. He told his team he was sick and decided to head home. Alice was at school and Jessica was at a charity fundraiser all day, so he could be alone for a while.

He walked into his house, poured himself a large brandy and went upstairs to lie down, in order to contemplate the cluster-fuck that was his life. But when he got to the top of the stairs, he heard noises, keening and wailing, coming from his and Jessica's bedroom. He tiptoed along the corridor and gently pushed the door open.

He wasn't prepared for the sight of his wife, wearing fishnet stockings and nothing else, being fucked from behind by the short, slightly pudgy form of Michael Newton, Edward's closest friend from his days in advertising.

"Oh! Mike! Oh yeah!" she cried.

"Jessica! My Jessie! Say it, babe! Say it!"

"I love you, Mikey! Fuck! I love it when you fuck me like this."

"Oh, Jessie, I love you, babe!"

Feeling nothing at all at the sight of his wife's infidelity with one of his best friends, Edward quietly made his way back downstairs. He downed his brandy, picked up his briefcase, headed back outside and started walking.

"Dad! Dad!" Edward heard from the other side of the road when he was about 100 yards from the house. He crossed over to meet her.

"Alice? What are you doing here? Why aren't you in school?"

"Teacher training half-day, remember? I swear, you and Mum never listen to me!" his daughter cried. "That's why I like Aunt Bella so much. Even though she's, like, the busiest person on the planet, she always makes time for me. I'm going to miss her."

"Aunt Bella's pretty great," Edward agreed.

A Hackney Carriage was passing by with its light on and Edward flagged it down. "Look, princess. I've got somewhere that I need to be. Urgently. I'll explain everything soon, but right now, I need you to go home and wait for your mother to come downstairs. Whatever you do, don't go upstairs until she comes down, okay?" He didn't want Alice to witness what he had just seen.

"Err...sure?"

"Okay. I love you." He kissed Alice on the forehead before climbing into the taxi.

"Love you too, Dad. Bye."

"Bye!"

"Where to, sir?" the driver asked. Edward checked his watch. It was 1 pm. _I have one hour._

"Heathrow Airport, please. As fast as you can."

_Fin_

-j.o.n.-


End file.
